Visible index-card system



Dec. 18, 1 928 K w. A. RINGLER VISIBLE INDEX CARD SYSTEM Filed F 11,1924 2 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 18, 1928. v I W. A. RINGLER VISIBLE INDEX cm)SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 11, 1924 INVENTOR I BY fla f rmPatented DecQ'lS, 1928.

WILIEAMLAI RINGLERQOF PI-IILAIJELPHUL, rnmrsynv enm, re imen-meadow.

I the'cards to be readily folded, and wherein: theoards are providedwith one or morerslots W R IG E o'oMPAnY or omen:

'A-JJI, emu, IA CGRPOBATION or OHIO;

' VISIBLE: rnnnx oarm sYsTEM.

- Application fi led Februaryf 1, 1924,; Serial-No. 691,895.

My present invention coinprehen'ds anovel I construction and arrangementof a vi'sible card system vlnch embodies a novelconstruc- :tion andarrangement of a frame, novel construction and arrangement of a followerI block, a novel construction end arrangement of card-holders, anOVeIoo-nStru tion and" arrangement of oards and-novel means forsecuring the .eard -holdersf in the frame.

It further colnprehen'dsj afln'ovel Visible card system whereinz thecards are provided- With a weakenedport-ion in order to'adept throughwhich' areg adapted to pass one or here looking tongues of a eardholder. It further comprehends-a novel construes tion of a. card-holderhav'ingoneyor more looking tongues;*said card holders being I adapted tofolded'fgandhave one of its folds locked beneath said tongue,- so thatWhena card of, the oharaoterherein describedv 'is secured to its holderit rc-anlhehandledasf a unit of structure.therewith, fand' the oard} canbe readily-detached fro'in itsho lder when;

desired. 7 Y Y It further 'c omprehends a novel construe; 'tionsandarrangement of'a' fran e having-ref stop member proyided with, tongues Qand]; novel means to secure the follower block and, card-holders in:adjusted positionlwith re spect to said stop member. s

Qther novel, features or te ements and advantage will hereinafter more.clearly ape P631 in the detailed desoription d pendedelaiins. 4 r I Forthe purpose of i llustratingthe invention, I have shown in fftheaccompanying. drawing atypical embodiment. of itfwhiohg v in practice,Will give reliablefand'satisfactory results, v It is howevertohe'under'stood that this einbodiinent is typioahon lyand that theVarious ins'trunientalitie's of which my' inVention [consists can hevariously arranged and organized, and that the iny' ention'is iiotlimited to the preeise; arrangement/and organization'of'theseinstrumentalitiesas herein set, forth. i

' acardp I V v i a "Figure 9 representsaseotionfonline9%9 "I The a stopIll 6111b lower block.

Figure 3 represents; in perspeetive, fol},

Figure 4 representsa section on line of Figure 3L I t p e r Figuresrepresents a seotionon line 5 -5 of Figure 2;

holder before it has been "folded;

FigureTrepresentsa plan View of one of theoards,

f Figure 8- represents, in p erspeetive, a; V holders in assembledPOSliLlOll: wlthlrespieotjto of Figure 8. 2

Figure 10 represents v a section on-line 1O+1O of Figure 1.

Figure- 1 p se t a section on" line 11-11 ofllfigure 1, but with thecards slid doWn'to lowermostposition, 4 r

Figure 7 12represents a fragmentary seei .00 Figureo representsaplen-yievvoi' award- T5 7 J tion iilustratingmoreparticularly the man-fI her-1n wh ch a card l emm d n raised position y' h' ton u sera-eholder ofthe nextc-ard; g p

g' g ep n a, modifiedforin of oard. siinllar numerals of referenceindicateoorresponding parts. 7 V v Referring to the'drawings 1designates a. frame having the inturnd l "so I argi l edg 2 whi h rm ds- A stop I meinber 3iis' secured between thejhodypora guides as attjjThe stop nieinloer 3 has at its upper end onefo'r inore projectingtongues 5 whiohare preferably rounded. ,6 represents tion of the" frameand the guides 2'ir'1 an yfd'e- H sired manner, for example, byindentingi the discs seeured to thestop member 8 and also to j the;frame lgiff desired;

3 hasa slit 28 eentrally loeated therein, see

I V by means of the cen-. trally disposed rivets 7; One orrnore'of thesedisosfi maybe employed. The stop member Figures I'and Z, through whiohpasses a' securing oord' 8.

thereto a cover sheet 9., Thecord 8is seoured r preferably has hinged tothe rear flap l0 of a follower 1-1. The sheet guidedinfthe v frame 1;The front 'fold oi" of materialifrom Whieli the followeris made isfoldedupon itselftoform'abody portion. 27, the free ends" of Which'are'adaptedto be flap of the follower has connected With'it a ,o sheet 12which is bendablealong the line. is. H l

til)

let desi nates the card-holders, and 15 designates the cards carriedthereby.

The cardholders are formed each from a blank of sheet material having alongitudinally weakened line 16 along which it is folded to form a rearfold 17 and a front flap 18. The rear fold has formed from it one ormore projecting tongues 19.

The cards 15 have near their top a weakened line 20 and one or moreslits 21 which at their ends extends outwardly as at 22. The body orholding portion 23 of a card above the slits 21 and the weakened line20is preferably of such width that it substantially fits between thetongues 19 of its holder and the inner rear wall of such holder. Thefree ends of a card-holder extend beyond the card which it carries andare adapted to be received beneath the guides 2 of the frame 1.

When the cards and cardholders are assembled in the frame they overlap,as seen in Figures 1 and 10, to provide a visible portion 24 on eachcard. In the embodiment seen in Figure 13, the cards have one or morecurved cuts 25 forming the flexible friction members 26. The cards areassembled with respect to their holders by passing the tongues 19 of thecard-holders through the slits 21 and the front flap 18 is then passedbeneath the tongues 19, so that the cards are locked in osition. Thecards can be readily and'quiclfly detached from their holders whendesired.

The card-holders are inserted in the frame and the follower is drawndownwardly by means of the cord 8and assumes the position seen in Figure10. The cord is tightened around the discs 6, and a plurality of thesediscs are employed in order that the cord will be concealed beneath theflap 12.

In Figure 1, the follower and card-holders are in their raised position,and when the follower is moved downwardly, the card-holders movedownwardly therewith, and the locking tongues 5 of the member 'extendthrough the slits 21 of the lowermost card.

A card-holder and its card is insert-able into and removable from itsframe as a unit of structure.

Special attention is directed to the novel construct-ion and function ofthe flexible friction members which are formed by the aligned slits 21and 22 and of the flexible friction member 26 shown in Figure 13.

This construction is most clearly shown in Fig u re 12 from which itwill be seen that when a card is raised the flexible lips or. frictionmembers formed by the slits 21 and 22 for example, frictionally engagethe locking tongues 19 of the card-holder 14 which is beneath thecard-holder 14 which carries the card 15 which has been raised. Thisfrictional grip of the cards with underneath tonguescauses the card tobe retained in its raised position so that the recording surface of theexposed card is entirely visible, and it is not necessary for theoperator to employ one handto hold the superimposed card or cards out ofthe way.

lVhen the operator presses down the superimposed card, the friction gripis released, and all of the cards lie substantially flat on the frame.

.When it is desired to remove a card, the operator unfastens the cord 8,moves the follower upwardly, and removes from the frame the desiredcardholder and card. The desired matter can then be written on therecording surface of the card without removing the card from its holder,but, if desired. the card can be readily and quickly removed from itsholder.

The cards as well as the card-holders can be economically manufacturedfrom sheet material, and, while the card-holders are preferably made ofpaper they can be formed from cardboard or any desired sheetmaterial.

It will be seen that the lower portion of a card-holder is nestedbetween the body portion and tongues of the card-holder beneath it.

The locking tongues project forwardly and upwardly and pass through theslits in the card and as illustrated overhang or overlie the front flapof the card holder. If a large slit is employed through which thelocking tongues pass, then the resilient friction members wouldbe'absent and the cards would simply swing rearwardly and forwardlywithoutany friction gripping means toretain them in their open position,and, al-

though, such construction'is within the scope of my present invention,Iprefer, and it is advantageous in many instances to form the cards witha flexible gripping portion'which will retain the card in its openposition and tend to movelit into its closed position when it ispartially moved downwardly.

Two or more cards can be attached to a single cardholder and therecording portions of the cards rendered visible when the cards aremoved into their open positions.

It will now be apparent that I have devised a new and useful visibleindex card system which embodies the features of advantageenumerated asdesirable in the state ment of the invention and the above descrip tion,and while I have,in the present instance, shown and described apreferredembodiment thereof which will give in practice satisfac toryand reliable results, it is to be understood that this embodiment issusceptible of modification in various particulars without departy ingfrom the spirit or scope of the invention or sacrificing any of itsadvantages.

Having thus described my invention, what I I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is: y

1. A card-holder comprising a strip of material foldable upon itself toform a front and a rear portion, one of said portions being means i of'greaterwvidtlithanthe other portion and having a tongue deflectedfrom'it between its top and bottommarginal "edge portions and adapted toengage the other portion.

"2. A cardholder comprising a' strip' of material foldablenponitselfto'provide a rear fold and a front'fl'ap, said rear fold being ofgreater width than thewidth of said front flap and havinga lockingtongue extending therefrom between its upper and lowerinar vginalportio'ns-to engage saidfront flap.

A card holder cofrn'prising a strip. of

' sheet material 'foldabletransversely upon itselfto form a rear foldanda front flap, saidrear fold havingfitslower portion terminating infamarginal. edge and projecting from it near its lower marginal edgealo'ckingtongue'adaptedto overhang the front flap and lock it initsfolded" position.

1. A card holder comprising astrip' of sheet material adapt edto foldupon itself to form a rearfolda'nd a front flap of less width than thewidth'of saidrear' fold, said rear fold having a plurality of projectingtong ues to overlap the edge of saidfront flap and'having their freeends extending towards'the line of foldfofsaijd stripinioverlappingrelation with said-front flap. 1 f v 5. An index card tobe held having a plurality of separated aligned slits extending inparallelism with and in proxinfiity to its holding marginal edge adaptedto receive holding means for the card, said slits at their endsextending at an angle towards the opposite edge only of the card insubstantially U shape and forming flexible friction members extendingonly towards theholding' edge of the card.

rality of channel shaped slits, located in proximityto saidweake'nedline.

9. The combination with a card-holder comprising a foldable strip havinga rear fold provided with a projecting tongue and a front flap securedin position by said tongue 01 an index card having a weakened portionand a slit through which said tongue extends, said slit forming aflexible friction portion of said card. v

10. Thecombination with a foldable cardholder having rear fold providedwith a plurality of projecting tongues and a front flap to beengaged bysaid tongues, of a card i of a superimposed card.

having s weakenedline to divide it into I. a

holding portion and a recording portion,said I card having in proximityto said weakened. line. a plurality of slitsto receive said tongues,sai'd' slits forming flexible friction members.

"11. In" a visible index card'- syste1n,'a phi-- rality ofcard-holderseach comprising-a fold able strip one folder" which is providedwithf alocking ton ue to" engage the'other fold I of 'saidstrip and-secure thefoldsein position,

cards 'ca-rried bysaid card-holder and each 1 having a slit throughwhi'cli'thetongue'of its card holder extends, saidcarddiolders beingadapted to nest one with the otl1er, to"bring the tongue of onecard-holder through the sl t '12. In a visible-index card.

system, a plurality' of carddiol ders each eoi'nprising afolda able"strip one fold of which is provlded with;

lockingtongue to engage the other. fold'off fsaid stripuand secure.the.folds n peer cards carried by saidcardsholders"and'each having a-slitthrough which the tongueof its; card-holder extends, saidslitsformingfiea ible friction members, said card holders being adaptedto nest one with the other, to

bring the tongue of one card-holder through, the slit of a superimposedcard, and saidfi'e'xe ible friction members of card; coactingwithcard-hdlder beneath'it' "re the tongue o" t tainsuchcardwhen"raisediniits open pest tiont I '13. The combination with acard-holder ceniprislng a foldable strip having a rear fold providedwith a projecting tongue and a front flap secured in position by saidtongue,

of an index card having a weakened portion and a slit through which saidtongue extends. 14. A plurality of card-holders arranged one above theother and having upwardlyand forwardly projecting tongues, with thetongues of each card holder overhangingthe tongues of thecard holderabove it.

15. A plurality of card-holders arranged one above the other and havingupwardly and forwardly projecting tongues, with the tongues ofeach cardholder overhangingthe wev tongues of the card holder above it incombination with cards carried by-said tongues.

16. A plurality of card-holders superimprojecting tongues in combinationwith'cards superimposed one above the, other. and -oar'- ried by saidtongues, each card-holderhavposed one above the otherin overlappingrelation and having upwardly and forwardly ing its tongue pro ectingthrough the card on a superimposed holder.

17. Card-holders having upwardly proj ing tongues and cards carried bysaid tongues, each card having aflexible friction portion engaging thetongue of the cardholder for the next adj a cent card.

18. In a visibleindex card system, a fiatfframe, a follower-to move withrespect to said frame, a cord secured to said follower,

7 and a plurality of cord-engaging discs fixedly mounted near one end ofthe frame to cause the follower to be retained in its adjusted position.v y

19. In a visible index card system, a frame having guides, card-holdersengaging said guides, cards carried by said card-holders and havingslits, and a stop member having a tongue to enter the slit of ajuxtaposed card.

20. In a visible index card system, a frame, a follower slidable thereinhaving a body portion and a front flap hinged to and of less width thanthe width of the body portion, a cord secured to said follower, andsecuring means for said cord.

21. A follower formed from sheet material to provide a body portion ofdouble thickness, and with a front flap integral with,

hinged to and narrower than said body portion.

22. A card holder comprising a folded strip having card-securing meanscarried by one fold and overlapping the other fold, a card through whichsaid card-securing means passes, said card-holder being wider than saidcard, and a frame having flanges to engage the ends of said card-holder.

23. Card holders each consisting of a folded stri having one fold widerthan the other with a igned tongues formed from one fold and overhangingthe other fold to retain the folds in :locked'position, said holdersbeing adapted to be nested together with the tongues of one card holderoverhanging the tongues of a card holder above it. y a

24. Card holders each consisting of a folded strip having one fold widerthan the other with aligned tongues formed from one fold and overhangingthe other fold to retain the folds in locked position, said holdersbeing adapted to be nested together with the tongues of one card holderoverhangin the tongues of a card holder aboveit, an the tonguealong saidline adapted to receive holding 1 means for the card. a

26. An index card having a holding portion and a recording portionseparated by a plurality of aligned holding slits on a hinge ine.

WILLIAM A. RINGLER.

